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5 Tips For Cheap Spa And Homemade Beauty Treatments

It’s only natural to want to look good, but we all know how quickly this can put a big hole in your budget. But that doesn’t mean you need to go cold turkey when it comes to beauty treatments – you’ve just got to be creative with how you go about it.

Here are 5 strategies to get inexpensive beauty treatments and what you can expect with each of these ideas:

1. Beauty Colleges

Is there a beauty college near you? This can be a fantastic way to get significantly cheaper beauty treatments, but there is a downside to consider: the treatments are performed by students, who haven’t yet qualified and need to complete treatments to successfully pass the course. They’re supervised at all times by experts, but because they’re effectively still in training, there is the potential for things to go wrong.

How to find these beauty colleges? This beauty college site can help you to look for beauty schools in your area, including accredited institutions. It’s primarily aimed at students, but can still be a good tool for finding the best spots. Failing that, a quick Google search like “Florida beauty colleges” will undoubtedly throw up contact details for beauty colleges in your area.

2. Be Flexible on Dates

Whether you’re looking for a spa package at a beauty college or a professional spa, being flexible as to when you’re willing to have your treatments will save you a ton of money. Since spas get the majority of their traffic on the weekends, look for a midweek appointment as spas are often desperate to fill slots during these less desirable times. Also, it’s always worth asking to see if there are any discounts for booking treatments on less popular days.

3. DIY Manicure

We’ve talked about DIY projects in the past, but did you know that you can apply this same mentality to making yourself beautiful? It may not seem as appealing as having a beauty treatment done by someone else, but performing your own treatments can save a lot of money. Treatments like waxes or facials might be out of your comfort zone, but the likes of manicures and pedicures can be done at home by most people. I regularly do my own manicures and pedicures to cut costs and I don’t possess any beauty knowledge or experience whatsoever!

On that note, let’s take some time to examine DIY manicures and pedicures. First up, manicures:

1. Prep your nails by getting rid of any dirt or debris that may be lodged under the nails or around the cuticles. You might want to apply some hand cream at this point to make sure that dry-looking hands don’t detract from your newly manicured nails.

2. File your nails into shape with a nail file, but be careful not to fall into using a “see-sawing” backwards and forwards motion; this can make your nails weaker and more prone to breaking. As long as you’re using a good quality nail file, you should be able to file in one direction only without having to take much longer than you would with the “see-saw” action.

3. Apply a dab of cuticle cream or oil to soften your cuticles so that they’re more receptive to being pushed back. Massaging a small amount of cuticle oil into your cuticles also encourages blood flow to the nail bed for better circulation. For another money-saving tip, rather than buying specialist cuticle oil, you can use olive oil.

4. Soak your hands in warm water for a few minutes and then use a cuticle stick to gently push back your cuticles. Create a spa-like experience by adding some Epsom salts or essential oils to the water. Some DIY manicure instructions recommend that you trim your cuticles with a cuticle cutter after soaking them, but I never do this personally because it’s all too easy to accidentally damage your cuticles.

5. Buffing your nails is another way to improve circulation to the nail bed and encourage a healthy, pink sheen. Beauty experts often suggest that you only do this once a week to avoid weakening your nails.

6. Wipe your nails with nail polish remover to get rid of any grease, and then apply a high quality base coat to help your nail polish last longer. If you’re going to be using a dark or strong color of polish, a good base coat can also protect against staining.

7. When it comes to applying your nail polish, aim to use three even strokes (one down either side and one down the middle). Don’t load the brush with too much polish as most experts recommend that two coats is enough to build up a good degree of coverage without it being too thick. It’s hard to do a perfect application, but you can easily clear up any mistakes by dabbing a cotton bud in nail polish remover and applying it to the mistakes.

8. Applying a top coat at the end gives a glossy shine and “seals” your nail polish. Opt for the quick-dry variety to minimize the chance of ruining your efforts while the top coat is drying.

4. DIY Pedicure

1. Soak your feet in warm water before you begin the pedicure. A wash bowl can be ideal for this. Add some Epsom salts or essentials oils to create a spa atmosphere. Remove any old nail polish and clip your toenails if necessary. Always clip them straight across to avoid the possibility of ingrown toenails. Once your feet have been nicely soaked, push back your cuticles.

2. Use a foot file or pumice stone to remove hard and dead skin from your feet, particularly your heels.

3. Toe separators make things a lot easier when you’re applying nail polish to your toenails. As with your nails, apply a base coat before you put your nail polish on. Finish with a top coat.

4. Slather your feet with some intensive moisturizing foot lotion to keep them soft. To intensify the moisturizing experience, do this before you go to bed and pop a pair of cotton socks over the top. The socks should help to retain heat so that the cream or lotion can really do its job.

5. Makeup and Skincare Counters

Use the makeup and skincare counters at your local mall or beauty store to your advantage. Most of these places are glad to give away free samples and beauty treatments without requiring you to make a purchase. Not only is this a great way to get some inexpensive beauty treatments, but it also allows you to sample new products before you put down a ton of cash to buy them.

Final Word

If you’re looking to get some quality beauty treatments without sacrificing your wallet, these 5 tips should definitely come in handy. Do you have any additional money-saving tips when it comes to beauty treatments?

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Sally is a UK-based freelance writer. As well as personal finance, she also writes on health & beauty and lifestyle topics. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, shopping, hanging out with friends and generally making the most of her downtime!

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